England vs. Norway: Winners and Losers from International Friendly

It took a Wayne Rooney penalty for England to edge Norway 1-0 at Wembley on Wednesday.

Raheem Sterling, who was generally the best player on the pitch over the 90 minutes, drew the spot-kick when he was hauled to ground by Omar Elabdellaoui in the 67th minute.

Overall, however, the Three Lions were generally poor on the night, and but for some heroics from Joe Hart shortly after the restart they might have found themselves behind following Joshua King’s pair of shots from in close.

Winner: Havard Nordtveit, Who Was Heroic in Defense for Norway

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England struggled to create a meaningful chance of note until Sterling won his penalty, but until his side went 1-0 down Norway defender Havard Nordtveit had been a primary reason for the guests’ stinginess in defense.

Over the 90 minutes the 24-year-old won all of his aerial battles, per WhoScored.com, and also passed the ball accurately out of the defense.

He repeatedly dug out long, arcing passes intended for Rooney or Sturridge, and late in the first half he made a last-ditch tackle on Jack Wilshere without conceding a penalty.

Winner: Joe Hart, Who Kept England in It

Joe Hart saved England’s blushes with a pair of saves early in the second half.

As it turned out, they were the only saves he’d have to make over the course of his side’s 1-0 win over Norway on Wednesday, and both came off Joshua King.

First, he had to dive to his left to deny King’s goal-bound header, and just minutes later—following a Gary Cahill giveaway—he collapsed to the ground to stop the Norway attacker’s meek effort from in close.